Moving-picture machine.



G. E. HGLUND.

MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED Nov. 4, 1909.

971,891. l Patented ont. 4, '19m 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

G. E. HOGLUND.

MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 4, 1909.

Patented Oct. 4, 1910.

2 SHEETS4SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTA'VE E. HOGLUND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO SELIG POLYSCOPE CO., 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

MOVING-PICTURE MACHINE.

Patented Oct. 4, 19110.

Application filed November 4, 1909. Serial No. 526,318.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUsTAvn E. HOGLUND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Moving-Picture Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to means for passing the film in front of a light aperture with an intermittent movement; and has for its object to construct mechanism which will makel such movement positive and in a manner to give the best results, to a construction which will be operated from the main driving shaft of the machine, to a construction Which is simple of formation and operation, and to a constiuctionin which a slight displacement of the parts by usage will not render the operationwo'f the chain of mechanism imperfect. And the invention further consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In movingicture machines it is essential that the lm be passed in front of the light aperture with an intermittent movement, such movement consisting of a relatively long period of rest in front of the light aperture and an instantaneous movement. away from the aperture. If the movement away` from the aperture is not instantaneous, it will result in a flickering of the picture when projected upon the screen, a condition which is highly undesirable for a great variety of reasons. The quicker the picture is moved away from the light aperture, the more the flickering will be reduced, so that when a very rapid movement is effected, the flickering will be dispensed with sufficiently to answer all practical purposes.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of the mechanism of the present invention located in operative position Vwithin a frame Work of a moving-picture machine; Fig. 2 a section online 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 a section on an enlarged scale on line 4 4 Aof Fig. 2; Fig. 5 a section through the gear Wheel operating the feed rolls and the .spring for actuating said feed rolls; and Fig. 6 a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 2.

The device is positioned within a casing 7 employed in moving-picture machines of any well-known and ordinary type of construcnient in either direction.

tion, in the side walls of which casing is journaled a main driving shaft 8, to which is attached a handle 9, or other well-known means for imparting rotation thereto. Fixedly attached to said shaft is a member 10, consisting of a hub 11 and a projecting finger 12. Located adjacent to the member 10 is a gear wheel 13 loosely mounted upon the shaft 8 and provided with a pin 14 adapted to be contacted by the finger 12. 'Mounted loosely upon the shaft 8 is a gear wheel 15 formed with a housing 16, in which is positioned a coil spring 17, one end of which is attached to the shaft 8 and the other end of which is attached to the gear wheel 15.

Journaled in the side Walls of the frame work 7 is a shaft 18, upon which is fixedly attached a pinion 19 meshing with the gear wheel 13, and on which shaft is loosely mounted a gear wheel 2O meshing with the gear wheel 15. The shaft also has fixedly secured thereto a miter gear 21 meshing with a miter gear 22 carried by a shaft 23 mounted within a sleeve 24, and upon the upper end of the shaft 23 is a miter gear 25 meshing With a miter gear 26 mounted upon a shaft 27 mounted in a Sleeve 28, which shaft carries a shutter 29, formed in the usual manner, to cutoff and admit light through the light aperture during the passage of the film past the aperture.

Located upon the shaft 18, and preferably lying adjacent to the side Wall of the casing, is a cam 30- located within an opening 31 formed in a slidable plate 32. The plate is composed of a downwardly extending porti'on 38, in Which the opening 31 is located and a laterally extending portion 34, which has a portion cut away to provide an opening 35, into which project fingers 36 and 37 formed onthe plate 32. The plate is provided along its upper edge with slots 38, into which project pins 39 affixed in the side walls of the casing.

Journaled in the side walls ofthe frame Work 7 is a shaft 40, to which is fixedly attached a ratchet Wheel 41 located in the opening 35 in the plate 32, and having its teeth 42 so formed that one of them will be in contact with either the finger 36 or 37 when the plate is in the extreme position of move- F ixe'dly attached to the shaft 40 are companion feed rolls 43 of the type ordinarily employed in movingpicture machines, and also fixedly attached to the shaft 40 is a gear wheel 44 meshing with the gear Wheel 20. The operation is as follows:

When power is applied to rotate the shaft 5 S, the member 10 will be revolved, and when the finger 12 is brought into contact with the pin 14, the'gear wheel 13 Will be revolved in unison with the member 10. The rotation of lthe gear wheel 13 will revolve the gear wheel 19, imparting movement to the shaft 18,

i vhich will actuate the gearing to rotate the shutter 29, and, at the same time, actuate the cam 30 to move the plate 32 back and forth. With the parts shown as in Fig. 6, a move- 15 ment of the cam will throw the sliding plate 32 forward, bringing the finger 37 out of engagement with the tooth 42 of the ratchet 41, and leaving the shaft 40 free to be revolved.

The gear wheels 15, and 44y serve as a 20 means for producing a spring tension upon the shaft 40 in the following manner: As the shaft 8 is rotated, the coil spring 17 will be wound up and a spring tension placed on the gear wheel 15, which is held against rotation while the spring is being wound up by the gears 20 and 44, which provide locking means for preventing such rotation. The shaft 40, being under spring tension, when the finger 37 is withdrawn from engagement with the teeth 42, will be revolved with great rapidity, actuating the feed rolls 43 rapidly, and moving the picture away from the light aperture with great rapidity.'

As the finger 37 is Withdrawn from contact with one of the teeth 42, the finger 36 will be brought into position to contact one of the teeth 42, and such contact will result in the stopping of the revolution of the shaft and of the feed rolls 43. But the finger will 40 not be in position to engage the tooth until o ent upon the shaft when the finger 36 or 37 is withdrawn from engagement with one of the teeth 42.

While I have shown and described my device as working in conjunction with a shutter, it may be found in practice that the movement of the film away from the light aperture will be fast enough so that a shutter need not be used. I, therefore, do not desire to limit myself to a shutter working in combination with my film feed.

I claim: 1. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a shaft carrying a set of feed rolls, a main driving shaft, a shaft interme- "5 diate the two first named shafts, means connected to the main driving shaft for rotating the intermediate shaft, means on the intermediate shaft for permitting and arresting the rotation of the shaft carrying the feed rolls, means operating independently of the above mechanism, for initially placing a spring tension upon the shaft carrying the feed rolls, and means for regenerating said spring tension during the periods of rest of the shaft carrying the feed rolls, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft carrying a set of feed rolls, a main driving shaft, a shaft intermediate the two first named shafts, means connected to the main driving shaft for rotating the intermediate shaft, means for permitting the main driving shaft to rotateindependently of the intermediate shaft for a predetermined length of time, to place an initial spring tension on the shaft carrying the feed rolls, means on the intermediate shaft for automatically permitting and arresting the rotation of the shaft carrying the feed rolls, and lmeans for automatically regenerating the above mentioned spring tension during the periods of'rest of the feed rolls, substantially as described. 3. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a shaft carrying a set of feed rolls, a main driving shaft, a shaft intermediate the two first named shafts, a gear wheel loosely mounted on the main-driving shaft, means attached to the main driving shaft for rotating said gear wheel, means for permitting the rotation of said shaft independently of said gear Wheel, to place an initial spring tension upon said shaft carrying the feed rolls, a gear wheel fixedly secured upon the intermediate shaft and meshing with the gear wheel on the main driving shaft, means actuated by the intermediate shaft for permittingr and arresting the rotation of the shaft carrying the feed rolls, and means for regenerating the above mentioned spring tension-during the periods of rest of the feed rolls, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft carrying a set of feed rolls, a main driving shaft, a shaft intermediate the two rst named shafts, a gear wheel loosely mounted on the main driving shaft, a member fixed on the main driving shaft, consisting of a hub and a finger eX- tending out from said hub, a pin on the gear wheel adapted to be contacted by the nger, the main driving shaft rotating independently of the gear wheel until the pin and finger contact, such rotation serving to place an initial spring tension on the shaft carrying the feel rolls, a gear wheel fixedly attached to the intermediate shaft, means actuated by the intermediate shaft for permitting `and arresting the rotation of the shaft carrying the feed rolls, and means for regenerating the above mentioned spring tension during the periods of rest 0f the feed rolls, substantially as described. l

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft carr ing a set of feed rolls, a main driving sha a shaft intermediate the two first named shafts, a gear Wheel loosely mounted on the main driving shaft, means attached to the maindriving shaft for rotating said gear wheel, a gear on the intermediate shaft meshing with the gear wheel on the main driving shaft, a

cam carried by the intermediate shaft, a slidable plate actuated by the cam, a ratchet wheel'on the shaft carrying the feed rolls and coperating with the sliding late to permit and arrest the rotation ofsald Shaft, and. means for applying aspring tension to said shaft, substantially as described.

' 6. In a device ofthe class described, the combination of a shaft carrying a set of feed rolls, a main driving shaft, a shaft intermediate the two first named shafts, a gear wheel loosely mounted on the main .driving shaft, means attached to the main driving shaft for rotating said gear wheel, a gear wheel on the intermediate shaft meshing with the gear wheel' on the-main driving shaft, a cam carried by the intermediate shaft, a slidable plate actuated by the cam, said plate consistin of a downwardly extending portion having an aperture formed therein, against the walls of which the protrudin portion of said/cam contacts, anda lateral y extending portion having an aperture formed therein, into which projects oppositely extending fingers, a ratchet wheel on the shaft carrying the feed rolls, one of' the extending lingers being in contact with a tooth on the ratchet wheel when the plate is at either extremityof its movement, and the teeth being so positioned that V(during a period in the movement of the plate, neither finger .will bein e agement with a tooth, leaving the ratchet v equal to the length of the tooth, and means for applying a spring tension to the shaft carrying the feed rolls, substantially as de scribed.

`to rotate a distance.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaftvcarrying a set of -feed rolls, a main driving shaft, a shaft intermediate the first two named shafts, means connected to the main driving shaft for rotating the intermediate shaft, means on the intermediate shaft for permitting and arresting the rotation of the shaft carrying the feed rolls, a gear loosely mounted on the main driving shaftga coil spring attached at one end to said shaft and at the other end to said ear Wheel, means for rotating the main riving shaft Iindependently 'of the intermediate sha-ft to wind up said' spring, an idler gear wheel looselymounted 'on vthe intermediate shaft and meshing with lthe gear wheel.on the main driving shaft, and a gear wheel fixed to the shaft carryingl the feed rolls and meshing with the idler ear wheel on'the intermediate shaft, substantlally as described.

8. Ina device of the class' described, the combination of a shaft carrying a set of feed rolls, mechanism for automatically permitting and arresting the rotation of said shaft, means operating independently of the last named mechanism `for initially placing a sprin tension upon the shaft carr ing the feed rolg ing such spring tension upon the shaft carrying the feed rolls during the periods when sald' shaft` is at rest, substantially as described.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft carrying a set of feed rolls, mechanism actuated from a main driving shaft for automaticall permitting and arrestingthe rotation o .said shaft, means operating independently of the last named s aft for initially placing a spri tension upon the shaftl carrying the fee rolls, means actuated from the main driving shaft for automatically placing such spring tension upoii the shaftV carrym the feed ls, and means for automatica ly plac-l rolls during the periods when the ast named 

